Us, January 19, 2020: John, Leo, Shadow, Roy, Ondine
Us, January 19, 2020: John, Leo, Shadow, Roy, Ondine
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS to Barbara and Ondine! One day we'll be able to go out and celebrate. Until then, it'll have to be enough that we're all hanging in there and staying healthy.
Coronavirus update: The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracker shows that COVID-19 has been confirmed in just over 2.3 million people worldwide, and has claimed well over 158,000 lives. The U.S. has over 726,000 confirmed cases, with over 37,900 deaths. And in San Diego, the numbers rose to 2,158 cases with 70 deaths. Some medical experts say face masks in public will be the new normal for years to come.
Despite rising infection numbers, the Trump administration defunded the U.S. contribution to the World Health Organization (WHO) and is pushing aggressively to open things up again and get back to business as usual, contrary to most scientific and medical opinion. Even the business community seems to be pushing back against relaxing restrictions. Yet, with national unemployment claims soaring to a record 22 million in the last four weeks alone, and more and more small businesses closing for good, there are massive economic costs to a prolonged shutdown. It's really a two-pronged attack that's being fought, one medical and one economic.
Meanwhile, here in our small safe space, things are going along, going along. Our two bear cubs have alternated between arguing about libertarian vs authoritarian systems and ideals in managing a crisis to chasing each other around the house with Super Soakers while hooting and making the dog flee outside to the relative safety of a hawk attack zone. So, all normal here.
The pair of hawks, by the way, are still lurking in the branches of the tree behind our yard, and the hummingbird is still on its nest in the cherimoya tree.
There haven't been any more hawk-dog encounters after that one time last week when the male hawk buzzed Shadow. We hear the female squawking insistently when
the male is away, but so far haven't discovered a nest. The foliage is pretty thick in parts.
We did our taxes by April 15, as did Roy, who still rued the $15 payment he had to make to the state of California because his main W-2 income came from his box office job in Colorado. We haven't yet received our coronavirus economic stimulus payment. Roy falls between the cracks there. We claim him as a dependent, so he can't get his own $1,200 payment, but he's over 17, so we can't collect the $500 child payment either.
Leo doesn't have a lot going on school-wise. There's no real incentive for him to do any schoolwork, so he's not. Instead, he mostly plays videogames, makes music, and connects with friends on social media. He did get in touch with a student housing option near Point Blank in Silverlake for his next step.
Also, Leo found out that his grad night bash at California Adventure Park in June was canceled, so the Class of 2020 is missing out on all the senior/grad activities this year.
Roy has been taking his classes online, playing videogames with friends online, and making a Minecraft server. And he filed his first tax return. This afternoon Danielle came over and they walked the dog together. Awww. Love in the time of coronavirus, to paraphrase the title of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel that John eventually threw aside.
Ondine continues to work from home, setting up her laptop in the bedroom with a view of the hawks in the tree.
John has been taking a FutureLearn class on forensic archaeology and streaming theatre shows. Friday evening we gathered around and watched the National Theatre's production of Treasure Island. The next one from the National Theatre is Twelfth Night, and the Globe will be streaming Romeo and Juliet. He's really getting a lot out of this social isolation thing! Also, he recently bumped up his exercise bike ride to an hour.
Speaking of streaming, we're now watching the One World Together at Home Special, a global remote concert by a slew of stars and mega stars in support of healthcare workers and the WHO.
Neighborhood gas prices are about $2.99 per gallon. The stock market closed Friday at 24,242.49.
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